Tracking Medicare money to Idaho providers

Do you ever wonder how much your doctors get paid by Medicare? And what they're doing for that money? Curious how many seniors in Idaho have gotten cataract surgery and what that cost Medicare?

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services released data this spring that gave the public a never-before-available glimpse into the business of health care. The data reveal Medicare's charges, payments and services linked to health care providers in Idaho and across the country.

The data offer some answers - with a big helping of caveats - to questions about who's getting Medicare money, and for what.

The Statesman analyzed 36,000 lines of data for Idaho and discovered some surprises - such as a 2:5 ratio of women to men among Medicare providers, and a 1:5 ratio in their total Medicare payments.

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For total Medicare spending in Idaho, family doctors as a profession claimed the most dollars - about $15.3 million.

Ophthalmologists were No. 2 for highest total payment as a profession, at $14.7 million.

Total Medicare doctor and supplier payments in 2012:

Does that mean family doctors and specialists made big profits?

Not necessarily. Family doctors saw a lot of patients - about 250,000 under Medicare - in 2012 and performed more than two services per Medicare patient that year. They didn't bill Medicare the most, or get paid the most, as a profession.

Ophthalmologists in Idaho had among the highest payments. Like other specialists in the Medicare data, a lot of their charges were for giving patients injections or medication.

Dr. Leo Harf of Intermountain Eye Clinic was among the top-paid Treasure Valley doctors. Because he specializes in diseases like macular degeneration, about 98 percent of his clients are on Medicare, said Angie Cornell, office manager for the practice's Nampa office.

The main reason his payments were so high is that his patients get injections of "extremely expensive" drugs, Cornell said. Profits on those drugs from Medicare are "pretty close to zero," she said, partly because it takes anywhere from a month to several months to get Medicare reimbursement, during which time interest accrues on the drug purchas.

"His drug expenses are astronomical anymore," she said.

Vials of one medication can cost $2,000 each, she said. Harf has tried to use cheaper versions - $65 per vial, for example - by ordering them from compounding pharmacies. But that's not ideal, she said, because patients using that drug have to make two office visits - one to get the prescription, another to get the drug injected after the prescription is filled.

Why is one extra office visit a problem? The doctor has patients who drive from Sun Valley, McCall and Baker City, Ore., she said.

How can I get the most bang for my buck as a health care consumer?

We can't answer that from this data. But medical providers in some counties, particularly in North Idaho, charged more than their peers for an office visit.

Average Medicare charge for an office visit in 2012:

Note: Counties with zero office-visit charges in 2012 are not shown.

Ada County got the largest share of Medicare money for the state - more than $55 million - but its medical providers ranked No. 7 for average payments, and they charged the fourth-highest rates in the state for all services.